Tire painting device



July 30, 1957 vv. A. LESLIE 2,800,874

Filed Sept. 28, 1953 WDTH OF STRIFE )l nvenfor VVicfor LeShe B riteStates Patent ffice 2,800,874 `patented July 3.0, 1957 2,800,874 TIREPAINTING DEVICE Victor A.. Leslie, Grand Rapids, Mich. ApplicationSeptember 23, 1953, Serial No. 382,578 -6 Claims. (Cl. 1185301) Thisinvention provides a device specifically designed for the purpose ofpainting a relatively wide white annular stripe on the side wall of anautomobile tire adjacent the rim to give the popular white side walleiect. This application is a continuation in part of application SerialNo. 249,124, led October l, 1951, now abandoned.

White side wall tires were customarily made by molding the side walls ofwhite rubber but these cost considerably more than the conventional allblack rubber tires and it was found that the effect or appearance couldbe Asimulated bypainting the white annular stripe up on the lessexpensive black tires.

In the past this painting the side Wall Was done by applying a suitablepaint with a brush and this method is still carried out extensively. Butthis painting method is unsatisfactory for several reasons. The work isusually done by the automobile owner or a garage mechanic, neither ofwhom is an expert at wielding the brush.y It was a long tedious job andthe paint would not be evenly distributed. The dividing line between thepainted stripe and the black portion of the tire would be uneven. Thepaint would be smeared upon the rim of the wheel and the result would bea messy job, which showed at a glance that it was hand painted and not awhite rubber inlay which it was intended to simulate.

The present invention provides a device by the use of which an amateuror layman may produce a white annular stripe on the side wall of a tirewith a clean cut dividing line so perfect in appearance that it requiresclose scrutiny to discern that it is not a factory built white sidewall.

The device of this invention for accomplishing the above result is inthe nature of a hand manipulated guard, open at both ends and providedat its lower side with two laterally spaced guides such `as groovedrollers which are adapted to run on the bead of the wheel rim and at itstop side is a guide, preferably a roller, which runs against the side ofthe tire outside the painted area and is located to guide the top of theguard close to but out of contact with the side of the tire. The lowerside of the guard, at its opening adjacent the tire, runs close to thebead of the rim.

In use, the wheel on which is the tire to be painted is jacked up sothat it will turn freely and is rotated slowly. The guard is held inposition by one hand of the operator with its lower spaced roller guidesrunning on the rim bead and the upper roller guide running against thetire. The paint is sprayed through the guard against that part of therevolving tire which is exposed through the open end of the guardadjacent the tire. The paint is sprayed continuously while the tirerotates and the tire may be rotated as many times for a paintingoperation as is desired to give the desired thickness of the paintedstripe.

For spraying the paint -any suitable paint spraying device having amovable nozzle may be used, but for most practicability, it is intendedto use the type of 2 small paint `container having a spray nozzleattached and containing paint under pressure. Such paint spray cans arenow in common use, known in the trade as Aerosol ca ns, and thisapplicant has developed a particular paint suitable for this purpose.and adaptable for use in such a pressurized can.

It is desirable that the spray nozzle be movable relative ,to the guardwhile the painting is being done so that the spray may be directedupwardly and downwardly to cornpletely cover the painted area.

The outt consisting of the guard and pressurized spray can of paint maybe purchased cheaply by the automobile owner who can'thereby paint histires with a white side wall `at a fraction of Ythe cost ofwhiterubberside walls and when the painted area becomes scutied anddirty he may quickly repaint them. Furthermore, he can if desired, useother colors than white so that the color of the tires may be made toharmonize with the color of the car body.

The terms upper, lower, ftop and bottom are used relatively herein for`brevity and clearness of description, andbecause the guard is usuallyheld against the tirewith the spaced rollers against the rim below theroller which rides ,on the tire, that part of the guard having `thespaced rollers will be considered at the lower or bottom side while ythesingle roller will be at the upper or top side.

The invention is hereafter more fully described and particularly pointedout in the claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing inwhich:

lFig. 1 is a reduced size side elevation of an automobile wheel with atire thereon and showing the painted side Avall.

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section with parts broken away showingthe device of this invention operatively applied to af rim and tire.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the device, and

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same.

Like reference numbers apply to like parts in all of the Igures Thedevice has a bottom plate 1 curved on approximately the same radius asthe rim 2 of the wheel. Centrally located on the upper side of plat-e 1is a guard 3 open at both its front and rear ends. On the under side ofthe plate 1 and spaced at opposite sides of the vertical center of theguard are grooved rollers 4 adapted to Vembrace and run upon theoutwardly projecting bead 5 at the periphery of the wheel rim 2.

On the upper side of the guard at its center is located a guide roller 6adapted to run against the outer side of the tire 7 and positioned toguide the upper side of the guide at its end adjacent the tire close tobut out of contact with the tire. This roller 6 may be adjustablymounted in a xture 8 having a slot 9 through which the axisv bolt 10 ofthe roller extends, said axis bolt being threaded into a nut 11 slidablymounted in the ixture 8. By this mounting, the roller 6 maybe adjustedin or out in conformity with the curvature of the tire wall so that theupper edge of the guard will runclose to but out of contact with thetire. This feature of the device is importantbeciause itis vthe upperVedge of the guard that defines the edge of the stripe.

The inner edge of the plate 1 is guided by the rollers 4 to extend closeto and preferably outside of the rim bead 5. The inner edge of the guard3, below its top portion, is spaced considerably away from the tireproviding a clearance 12. This clearance is desirable because thecurvature of the side wall of the tire varies considerably in dilferentmakes of tires and the clearance at 12 accommodates this variationwithout interfering with the close proximity of the upper part of theguard with the tire.

In operation, the painting is done with the tire on the Wheel rim. Thewheel is jacked up so that it will turn freely and is rotated slowly.The guard is held in one hand of the operator with the two lower guiderollers 4 running on the bead 5 of the rim 2 and the guide roller 6running against the side of the tire 7 outside the area to be painted.

ln this position, and with the tire slowly rotating a spray can of paint13 is held by the other hand of the operator and its nozzle 14 isdirected to spray the paint through the guard 3 against that portion ofthe tire which is exposed through the open inner end of the guard. Theplate 1 prevents the paint from striking the rim of the wheel and theheight of the guard opening deiines the width of the stripe. The upperportion of the guard being located close to the side of the tireaccurately defines the dividing line between the painted stripe and theblack portion of the tire. The guide rollers 4 and 6 prevent any portionof the guard from touching the tire within the painted area or closelyadjacent to it so. that smearing of the paint is prevented. The groovedrollers 4 embracing the bead cause the guard to travel in a true annularpath.

The three point guiding contact of the lower rollers 4 and the upperroller 6 prevent wobbling of the guard which would interfere with theaccuracy of the work and permit the guard to strike the painted area.

It is desirable, though not necessary, that the guides 4 and 6 berollers because they make for more easy and smooth running of the guardand usually the tire has embossed lettering upon its side wall overwhich the roller 6 runs more easily.

To aid in locating the position of the spray can an indenture 15 may beprovided in the outer edge of the bottom plate 1 into which the can maybe located. When so located, the can may be moved to direct the spray upand down within the guard to insure an even coverage of paint on thetire within the guarded area.

By'use of this device, an ordinary black tire may be converted to a socalled white side wall easily and quickly by a novice, the actualpainting time required, after the wheel is jacked up for rotation, beingnot more than one minute per tire. The result is a clean cut, welldefined annular stripe of paint on the side wall of the tire having aclose resemblance to the factory built white rubber inlays. j

This result is made possible by guiding the guard accurately as the tirerotates so that it does not wobble, the bottom of the guard shieldingthe wheel rim and the top of the guard running close to the tire withall parts of the guard out of contact with the painted area.Furthermore, the grooved guide rollers running on the circular bead ofthe rim insure that the guard follows a true circular path with respectto the tire.

If a spot of the painted surface should become scuffed in service, it isnot necessary to jack up the wheel and repaint the whole stripe toremove the spot but the guard may be placed in position on thestationary wheel and moved back and forth past the spot while the paintis being sprayed.

The invention is defined in the appended claims which are to beconsidered comprehensive of all forms coming within their scope.

I claim:

1. A device for painting an annular stripe on the sidewall of a tiremounted on a wheel rim having an outwardly projecting bead comprising atubular guard applicable to said tire and rim and having inner and outerportions spaced apart radially of the axis of the tire and said guardhaving open opposite ends adjacent to and remote from the tirerespectively, a iirst guide means comprising spaced apart guide elementsdisposed respectively at opposite sides of the guard on its innerportion adapted to embrace and run upon said bead, a second guide meanson the outer portion of the guard adapted to engage and run upon theside of the tire and located to position the outer portion of the guardclose to but out of contact with the side of the tire, said guidesacting to form a three point contact with the rim and tire, the open endof the guard adjacent the tire defining the radial width of the stripeto be painted, and all of said guides being outside the area exposedthrough the open end of the guard, and means for spraying paint throughsaid guard onto the part of the tire exposed through said open endadjacent the tire while the tire is rotated relative to the guard.

2. The elements of claim 1 in which the said iirst guides are locatedtoward the axis of the tire relative to the inner portion of the guardand are located to hold the bottom of the guard in a position to shieldthe wheel rim from paint sprayed through the guard.

3. The elements of claim 1 in which said second guide is adjustable onthe guard in a direction to and from the tire.

4. The elements of claim 1 in which said means for spraying paintcomprises a spray nozzle which may be directed upwardly and downwardlythrough the guard during the painting operation.

5. A device for painting an annular stripe on the side of a tire mountedon a wheel rim having an outwardly projecting annular bead comprising, atubular guard applicable to said tire and rim and having inner and outerportions spaced apart radially of the axis of the tire and said guardhaving open opposite ends adjacent to and remote from the tirerespectively, inner and outer guide means mounted respectively on saidinner and outer portions of the guard close to the open end adjacent thetire, said outer guide means traversably engaging the tire and saidinner guide means traversably engaging said bead, both being outside thearea of the open end of the guard adjacent the tire and acting toaccurately space said open end of the guard close to but out of contactwith the tire, and spray means located adjacent the open end of theguard remote from the tire and acting to direct a spray of paint throughsaid guard onto said tire adjacent said bead in a well defined annularstripe as the tire is rotated relative to the guard.

6. The elements of claim 5 in which said spray means includes a nozzlewhich may be moved to direct the spray therefrom at various anglesthrough the guard.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,927,743 Ivey Sept. 19, 1933 2,119,043 Corneilson May 31, 19382,476,299 Hirsh July 19, 1949 2,512,542 Goda June 20, 1950 2,647,793Mosher Aug. 4, 1953 2,658,714 Fooshee Nov. 10, 1953

